Clients hang up when lawyer tells them of $61M verdict over unwanted telemarketing callsAnonymous04/17/18 (Tue) 02:47:56No.611129

The West Virginia law firm of Bailey & Glasser wants its class clients to know they are eligible for an award as a result of a $61 million verdict against Dish Network for its marketing calls.

Lawyer John Barrett and his colleagues are having a hard time getting their message across when they call to deliver the news, the Wall Street Journal reports. The clients are hanging up before the lawyers or a paralegal can explain, or they are hanging up in disbelief after hearing the figures.

Barrett and co-counsel Brian Glaser won a $20.4 million verdict against Dish last year, an amount that was tripled by the judge. As a result, more than 18,000 people who received the calls are each eligible receive $2,400 to $30,000, before payment of attorney fees and expenses.

The firm began making the calls after fewer than 8 percent of clients who received a letter about the verdict failed to return the required forms.

Keith Skriver of Arizona is in line to receive $30,000 for receiving 25 calls from Dish Network, according to the Journal. He didn’t respond to a voice mail left by the firm until he asked a friend who was a lawyer to check it out. Skriver got the go-ahead and signed up for his award, but is taking a wait-and-see approach.

If the money doesn’t materialize, “I don’t need to go to Paris anymore,” he told the newspaper.

>The firm began making the calls after fewer than 8 percent of clients who received a letter about the verdict failed to return the required forms.

So, if fewer than 8% failed to return the forms, that means more than 92% did return the letters. That's a really impressive return rate. Why on earth would they bother with the calls if the letters were that effective?